News From the Trenches of Haiti

Here is an email from one of our workers in Haiti - Joni Zweig:

Team Amurt/el Haiti Response - One month after the Earthquake

It’s been a month now since the earthquake devastated Haiti , in particular the cities of Port au Prince and Jakmel. Since then AMURT and AMURTEL’s two teams have been responding to the immediate needs of some 20,000 people in the Delmas 31 area and in Jobel and Lavale Bourdon. Our efforts are divided into two areas- bringing people basic necessities, including medical care, food, water, shelter and other supplies. The other area is planning for the more long-term recovery efforts. Both must be done simultaneously, and amid a level of urgency and desperation we have rarely seen in any other disaster situation our teams have worked in.

In the area of immediate aid, there is much good news: On Monday the Mexican Embassy contacted us to let us know a large freighter carrying over 17 tons of supplies had arrived and we were welcome to as much as we could take and distribute. Needless to say, we jumped- borrowing some large trucks from the UN base and loading boxes of baby food, hygiene kits, beans, oil, rice, water and other necessities, to be taken to our depot and then distributed to the camps we are working with. Missing though were tents, still in desperate need by so many thousands of families. Another ship is expected next week and we have been given carte blanche to take whatever we can distribute. Thanks to Mexican Foundation INICIA, we received 500 boxes of milk along with 2,500 gallons of water from Planeta Azul in the Dominican Republic . This was added to the 5000 hygiene kits we received, along with another 500 boxes of milk, from another NGO. Our depot is continuing to fill up everyday as we continue to receive, deliver and distribute tarps, hygiene kits, food, water and milk to children and pregnant mothers and as many families as possible from the surrounding areas. We are following the model of localized, community based distributions- encouraging the people we are working with to organize amongst their own communities and take responsibility for equitable and safe distributions. So far, this model has been incredibly successful, with upbeat, peaceful distributions being the norm.

Camps have formed wherever open space would allow and a lot of camps are close to where their homes had stood. This allows the residents to return to the remains of their homes and retrieve whatever they can to help with the construction of temporary housing. There is the sound of hammering and signs of collectivity everywhere. Some have come together to fix their own water sources, others lend a hand in constructing the shacks which form rows of homes now. You can begin to see crocheted drapes hanging in front of doors and shacks furnished with beds, tables, chairs. The people have worked hard to find a level of comfort in their tent homes, which is amazing when you realize that many had lovely homes, good jobs and fulfilling lives before the earthquake. One woman in a nearby camp shared how she lost her husband and her child in the earthquake. They had a nice home and great jobs. Her husband was cut in half by a fallen beam and her child also died.. Camps are not just for the poor. No one is exempt.

Camp Safety and Sanitation
We have some engineers we met at the UN meetings who will be coming to inspect our camps and make suggestions on how to best prepare for the coming spring rains, as well as deal with septic, water sources, etc. Our latrine project has been able to reach many of the camps now. We are teaching the children songs to help them learn how to care for, clean and use their new latrines along with having good hygiene habits like washing hands after using the latrine and before eating. In the camps of Juvenat 7 and Jobel 4 we are building 24 latrines in collaboration with Haven Partnership and here over 100 very excited children between the ages of 4 and 12 years old were taught one of the two songs prepared.

Medical
We have a new set of medical volunteers getting ready to come to Haiti , where they will work in our two permanent clinics and go out to more remote areas still in need of medical care. More medicines have arrived in the capital and we have been able to create well-stocked pharmacies at both clinics. Last week, our Delmas 31 medical team was called to an orphanage outside of town for a seriously ill infant. When they arrived, they said it was worse than anything they had seen on TV. The 53 children all just sat, almost in a catatonic state, not interacting, not speaking, not playing. A few were crying. All were malnourished, and sickly. The baby they saw had double pneumonia, and was severely dehydrated. There was only one toilet for the whole facility and it was broken. The windows were broken, there was no furniture, no toys, no mattresses or sheets. And the worst part- this orphanage was not affected by the earthquake….. This is the condition it was in before and still is. There is no system for licensing or inspection of the hundreds of orphanages in Haiti . Our medical team was both heartbroken and outraged and spent half a day going to multiple government offices until they found someone who promised to get someone went to the orphanage and made sure the children were moved to a proper facility.

Education
Recently, Save the Children came to our center in Bourdon and held a training for 70 volunteers on trauma counseling for children. Partnering with CRS and K&H we are setting up Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in many of the camps. These will provide opportunities for children to come and play, receive a nutritious meal, and begin to embrace a sense of normalcy in their young lives. Our teachers are being trained to notice signs of emotional and physical trauma as well as ways to utilize play therapy to help the children work through some of their fear and anxiety.

The next few months are critical for the people in Haiti and the work of our teams. Everyone’s help has been deeply appreciated, and I know how easy it can be to get distracted by the next ‘squeaky wheel’. I can only ask you not to turn your backs on our Haitians friends now as their need continues to press down on them.

Many thanks to you all,

Joni